The UK's exportation of asylum obligations to Rwanda: A challenge to mental health, ethics and the law

The United Kingdom government has made a concerted decision to ramp up its 'hostile environment' policy towards asylum seekers and refugees. The original policy took the form of 'a package of measures designed to make life so difficult for individuals without permission to remain in the UK that they will not seek to enter the UK to begin with or if already present will leave voluntarily'. The Nationality and Borders Act provides a new legislative framework for issues relating to nationality, asylum and immigration which makes asylum claims less likely to succeed and limits the rights available to many of those whose claims are successful. Critics of the policy have raised serious moral and ethical concerns relevant to both health and legal professionals. In addition, it appears that it will fail to deter those planning to make risky journeys to the UK for protection, as the government has argued in justification.